Werewolves of Montpellier

by Jason

After an omnibus collection of earlier books (Almost Silent) and a new collection of short stories (Low Moon), Jason returns with another full-length, full-color graphic novella his first since the 2008 Eisner Award-winning The Last Musketeer.

Sven, a semi-aimless Scandinavian artist who has ended up in Montpellier, France on a futile romantic pursuit, enjoys nocturnal raids into other people's homes, disguised as a werewolf. The way he figures it, the disguise will give him an extra few moments advantage vis-a-vis any startled home owner if things get ugly...but he hasn't taken into account the existence of a society of real Montpellier-based werewolves who do not take kindly to this new pretender. So while Sven spends his days playing chess and poker with his friends, sketching his way through his picturesque chosen hometown, and coping with romantic dilemmas -- both his and those of his best friend, the Breakfast at Tiffany's-obsessed Audrey, who has girl troubles of her own -- little does he realize that a genuine threat to his life, and for that matter his humanity, is closing in on him.

Werewolves of Montpellier is a lycanthropic thriller, a romantic comedy, and an existential drama -- basically, your typical Jason book. Beware the full moon!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Humor

48 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

John Arne Sæterøy, better known by the pen name Jason, is an internationally acclaimed Norwegian cartoonist. Jason's comics are known for their distinctive, stone-faced anthropomorphic characters as well as their pace reminiscent of classic films.
Jason was born in 1965 and debuted in the early 80's, when still a teenager, in the Norwegian comics magazine 'KonK'. His first graphic novel Pocket Full of Rain (1995) won the Sproing Award, one of the main national awards for cartoonist.
In 2001 Jason started a fruitful collaboration with the American publisher Fantagraphics, which helped him gain international notoriety. Besides Norway and the U.S., his comics have appeared in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Brazil.
Jason's stories feature a peculiar mix of dry humour, surrealism and tropes from a variety of pulp genres, such as noir novels and monster movies. His most celebrated works include: Hey, Wait... (2001), a tale of childhood and trauma; You Can't Get There from Here (2004), a re-telling of the myth of Frankenstein; The Left Bank Gang (2007), featuring fictional versions of Hemingway and other writers living in Paris in the 1920s; I Killed Adolf Hitler (2008), a story that mixes romance and time travel; The Last Musketeer (2009), a love letter to old sci-fi imaginary featuring king's musketeer Athos; Low Moon (2010), one of his many collections of short stories; Werewolves of Montpellier (2010); Isle of 100,000 Graves (2011), a pirate story co-written with French cartoonist Fabien Vehlmann; Lost Cat (2013), a thriller with a surreal spin.
Jason won a Harvey Award for best new talent in 2002 and Eisner Awards in the category 'Best U.S. Edition of International Material' for three consecutive years (2007-2009).
He has lived in Denmark, Belgium, the U.S., eventually setting for Montpellier, France in 2007.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Artist Sven moves from Scandinavia (wait: artist?! And could Scandinavia actually be Norway?! Is this semi-autobiographical?! Do tell!) to Montpellier, France (where Jason now lives! Ha! Another clue!) for ill-fated romance; he’s goofy, likes to go out at night and slip into people’s houses disguised as a werewolf, to the girlfriend’s initially tolerant annoyance. Couldn’t you get killed doing this, she asks? Oh, yeah, good point, hadn’t thought of that, he replies!

But he hasn’t yet faced this important question: How do the real Montpellier werewolves feel about this nightly carousing?

Sven plays chess with a friend who just looks at and fantasizes about women. Sven sketches by day and hangs out at night with a friend, Gertrude, who is interested in—and dresses like—Audrey Hepburn. This adds up mostly to quirkiness. People wanting to be something more interesting than what they are. Then the werewolf action/adventure stuff.

This may not be Jason’s finest work, but I still love it; it is dryly amusing, sweet, and what he likes to do, a mash-up of genres: crime fiction, monster genre, romantic comedy, and sort of an existential tale of a kind of huggable sadsack artist.

[Archit · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations in Jason's books are pretty amazing. The author's ideas are unique and his presentation is brilliant.

[Tony Vacation · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigh. It's not easy being a foreign, anthropomorphic jewel thief living a restless life in southern France, especially when the neighbor you seem genuinely content to spend all your time with is in a committed same-sex relationship with another woman, and even more especially when your flair for playfully disguising yourself as a werewolf to frighten off any potential scuffle while immersed in a home invasion gains the attention of actual werewolves who think of you as a threat that must be eliminated. No, it really isn't fair at all.

[Fuchsia Groan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tercer cómic que leo de Jason y estoy fascinada, en el ratito que he tardado en leerlo he sentido de todo, es amargo, bonito, triste, divertido, intrigante. Mejor no saber mucho de la historia, leerlos sin saber casi de qué van, es un gustazo ir perdido casi hasta el final, nunca saber por dónde va a salir.

Me ha gustado lo que dice Le Nouvel Observateur en una de las solapas, me parece muy acertado: Jason consigue sembrar la confusión en el lector, llevándolo a un relato de acción, pero sumergiéndolo simultáneamente en la intimidad de unos personajes perdidos y desorientados. Con un humor que se parece tanto a la desesperanza que se confunde con ella.

Me encanta la mezcla de géneros, la cantidad de cosas de las que habla, y las referencias al cine.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

An artist living in Montpellier lives a quiet existence filling his sketchbook with life drawings, playing chess with his friend, going to soirees and meeting girls, and getting drunk. It's a gentle life. And then once a month he dresses up as a werewolf, stalking the rooftops, and breaking into peoples' houses. Then he meets a group of real werewolves who give him the choice - leave and never return or stay and face the consequences...

Jason's newest comic book, in full colour, has moments of whimsy like his previous book "The Last Musketeer" but is less comical. The story is really about the main character, Sven, and his on again off again relationship with Audrey, a bisexual artist with whom he is in love. It's delicately told and we're given a glimpse into the bohemian lifestyles of artists in Montpellier as well as their inner lives.

If you know anything about Jason you'll know all his characters have animal faces and rarely speak though in this book there is a lot of dialogue. It's a more subtle story than the title suggests and is full of wonderful moments between the characters like a sequence showing Sven and Audrey drunk and walking home where the panels are in disarray, or a page where the two of them are on a beach.

It's a great comic book from a fantastic artist and will be greeted with joy from all of Jason's ever-growing fan base. A fine addition to any comic book collection and a wonderful read.

[Dov Zeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something so spare and driven and atmospheric in this artist's work. So neat and attentive to form. A very similar feel to watching cartoons, dark and mature, and yet full of the immaturity of real adulthood. HIs people are all animals, from birds to dogs to werewolves. They are all impeccably dressed (as themselves). I don't always get the deeper meanings I'm sure are in here (conflict between actual werewolves and a character who poses as a werewolf, and looks almost exactly like himself when doing so. I don't want to spoil the story, but there is a lot of philosophical humor in the outcome, and just plain misery in general.) If I had to distill this book into a sentence I might say. "Love is messy." Or "life is messy." Or "we never grow up." Maybe even "Bugs bunny noir." Which is saying a lot, because Bugs Bunny kind of already is noir. But thankfully I don't have to distill anything.

I recommend this book!

(There is a tiny bit of LGBT content. I didn't know whether to put it on my LGBT bookshelf. Decided to, but not with great conviction.)

[Drew Canole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally gave this one a re-read. I liked it quite a bit!


2014 review
Pretty light-weight for a Jason comic. I'm not really sure what Jason was trying to do here. He seems to combine crime fiction, werewolf-type fiction, and low-key daily-life drama in an ineffective way. That being said this is still Jason and his drawings and characters are top notch. I enjoy his ability to push the story along with little narrative intrusion.

[Jason Pettus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt like someone had taken every stereotype that's ever existed of the Incomprehensible European Underground Comic Book and had deliberately made an over-the-top omnibus of them all, then put it in my neighborhood library in front of a hidden camera just to get my reaction when trying to do a serious reading of it, for future "Punk'd" style hilarity. Is this really an actual artist who actually exists, or is this the hipster equivalent of those generic snake-filled cans of worms, that anyone can pull out at any time when trying to pull a fast one over on their friends? "Oh, yeah, you should totally read this! [snort] He's, like, HUGE in France! [giggle]"

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Sven, I just do.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's tough being a foreigner living in a different land, but things do rather get a tad more complicated when you are also a thief.

This is classic Jason style work with quirky plot lines and insightful glances into human nature. To say more is to spoil the reveal. As usual the art made me smile throughout, though there is darkness in this one. Be prepared.

[Luke Burrage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free comic! It was fun. A complete story as it is, but would probably be fun to continue. The art was interesting, and the eyes made it hard to tell characters apart.

I loved the idea that a dog would dress up as a werewolf by putting on fake feet and teeth, like a human dresses as a vampire by putting in pointy teeth.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Best werewolf book. Ever.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very charming.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Jason book. This slim volume is a very droll slice-of-life, a low-key relationship drama interspersed with wonderful craziness. As always with Jason, it is what it is, and what it is is pretty awesome.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

There can never be enough Jason.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a crime/romcom about a man who dresses up like a werewolf to steal from people but catches the attention of some actual werewolves. The werewolf stuff is barely part of the plot as most of it is this sad dude with a habit of thievery and some unrequited love for his close friend. I really love the page of him being drunk as the panels spin, and some of the short humour of him and one of his guy friends playing chess and dryly talking about attractive women.

[Jake Nap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, Jason’s my favorite cartoonist.

[Simon Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've encountered and enjoyed Jason's comics a couple of times before, but this new story - about Sven, the jewel thief of Montpellier, and his circle of friends - is a particularly impressive tangle of genres, wonderfully paced and handsomely drawn.

The mixture of vague existential threads and very peculiar plots played out by ambivalent animal-head people is quite addictive, so I'll be picking up some Jason collections - perhaps Low Moon next.

[chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just re-read this this morning after having just watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for the first time. There are some clear aspects of tribute, unless I'm seeing things. The entryway to the apartment building definitely. I love Jason; how he can draw two lines, one flat and one short and squiggly, and that is the ocean, with a character stading in front of it saying "It's so big...", and that's all it takes. This is also the closest to a happy ending I think any of his stories has. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Maria]

i keep reading jason's gn although i never know how i feel about them. i like his illustrations most of the time but the stories sometimes fall flat for me. so i don't know if i like them or not but i guess i'll keep reading his stuff to maybe find out.

[Aritra Dasgupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun quick read. Enjoyed the depiction of being drunk. Nothing much to say here. It's a small tale and yeah. Typical Jason with its' twists in the tale. Enjoyable but nothing to really talk about here. 3 instead of 2 because I liked that they were playing chess and because of that drunk page.

[Peacegal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I frequently enjoy this creator's comics, but this one just didn't come together for me.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jason's strengths as an artist are his spare use of dialogue, which is good because he's absolutely terrib le at actual dialogue. Forget the burden on translators to accurately portray subtext, what Jason's characters often talk about is just asinine cockery. It's all about the despair of trying to get laid when you're socially inept, and people saying the wrong things at the wrong times. It feels very early 90s, thought it's from 2010.

The pacing is excruciating. Three pages with a narrative flow that doesn't lead anywhere, and then you're in the middle of two EU bros broing it up about how to bro out and ogle chicks on escalators. All of this while they're playing chess. Because chess makes everything seem intellectual.

If not for the very distinctive art style, I'd find it hard to believe that this was from the same writer as Almost Silent and I Killed Adolf Hitler. It just feels incredibly empty, but not in the interesting way he usually manages to make a story feel full of empty.

Unless you're a Jason completist, or you're really into 90s indie flicks where characters race to see who can say the most entitled and "shocking" thing, skip this and read one of Jason's other books.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I’ve actually come across a book that earns the title Graphic Novel. The vast majority of graphic novels I read are simply the fun, super hero types that, in my mind, are simply bound comics (I realize this distinction may make no sense to anyone else, but it works me). However, Werewolves of Montpellier feels like a graphic novel. It is a story of a likable, if not exactly confident or industrious, expatriate living in a French city and trying to figure out his life, love, etc… I’ve flipped through others of this type that work to be serious, Maus comes to mind, and Persepolis, but what separates this work from the others is that it is completely charming and not so overly serious as to drown the story or emotion out of the work.

The art is simple and telling. Read more at http://www.andhereads.com/2017/09/rev...

[Pok Manero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tal vez es el comic que menos me ha gustado hasta ahora de Jason, y no porque sea malo ni mucho menos, sino porque se siente que está hecho desde su zona de comfort. Vamos, tiene un ladrón de joyas que se disfraza de hombre lobo para robar, vive en Francia como expatriado proveniente de la península nórdica e incapaz de establecer lazos con la gente local (¿semiautobiográfico, quizás?) y está en la “friend zone” con una chica que no lo corresponde. Y todo se complica cuando una sociedad secreta de verdaderos hombres lobo decide poner un alto a sus actividades. Interesante y entretenido, pero he disfrutado más de otros de sus trabajos.

[Titus · Rating 5 out of 5]

In typical Jason fashion, this comic uses a quirky story about burglary and werewolves as a backdrop for an understated, melancholic meditation on unrequited love. I read it twice before writing this review, and the first time I liked it, but the second time it hit me much harder. On the second reading, I understood the protagonist better, so the quiet, mundane sequences that make up much of the comic were laden with sadness for me, and the handful of explicitly tragic moments really bowled me over. Definitely up there among my favourite Jason comics.

[David Turko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might be my favorite comic from Jason. His typical dry humor really resonated with me in this book. And his mash-up of genres really seemed more cohesive this time around which is wild seeing as how he blends crime fiction, monsters, romance, comedy, and some existential dread into this short story. Yeah, the more I write about this the more I love it. This is a great comic with great writing, art, and has a whole lot of charm to it. Definitely recommend.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

More deadpan, dry wit from Jason, this time about a jewel thief in Paris who dresses as a werewolf (to buy himself an extra second if he's discovered). But the real werewolves don't like his antics. Mostly, it's also about his awkward relationships with a few friends, including a cute girl he's into. Funny, dry, well-drawn. Recommended.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Elevated a bit by its simple but distinctive art and definitely a unique book, but in general I found this simultaneously very sparse while also overpacked with ideas that don’t really have time to develop in just 50 pages. A strong ending helped raise my impression, but overall this just didn’t feel like there’s much there.

[Barnaby Haszard · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Jason for me. His scenes are small snippets that emphasise mood over events, and he tends toward understatement. Makes for a strange, incomplete reading experience that nevertheless propels you on and drags you into the story.